Man gets 8 years for purse snatching

A Cape Girardeau man was sentenced to eight years in prison Monday for snatching a woman's purse outside the Dollar General store on Broadway this summer.

Frank Boyd, 24, pleaded guilty in August to a charge of second-degree robbery.

In court Monday, Boyd apologized and told the victim he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time of the robbery.

"I want to say I apologize to [the victim]," he said. "I was on drugs that night, and I was drinking also, and I'm sorry."

According to a probable-cause statement filed in the case, the victim, a 63-year-old Cape Girardeau woman, told police she had stepped aside to let the man pass when he grabbed her purse.

She said she was slammed against the front glass of the store and fell down in the ensuing struggle, after which the suspect ran off with her purse, Cpl. Joseph Hann of the Cape Girardeau Police Department wrote in the statement.

After the robbery, the suspect, accompanied by two men and a woman, went into Schnucks, where the woman tried to cash a check stolen from the victim's purse while the suspect and another man used the victim's debit card to buy liquor, Hann wrote.

Later that night, the suspect tried to use the victim's debit cards to buy $50 worth of items at the

AM/PM store, 1101 William St., Hann wrote.

After his arrest, Boyd waived his Miranda rights and eventually "began to cry and admitted that he had robbed a woman due to his heroin addiction," Hann wrote.

At the time of the robbery, the victim told police she had injuries to her elbow and wrist but did not need medical attention, Hann wrote.

In court Monday, the victim said she had scars on her finger and elbow from the robbery; sprained her finger, elbow and wrist; and injured her shoulder, requiring medical treatment that included four weeks in a sling.

"I don't know if my medical bill's going to be paid by my insurance, because my insurance card was in my purse" when it was stolen, she said.

The victim said her physical injuries are healing, but her "whole world got turned upside down."

"I forgive Mr. Boyd for what he did, but I'm not never going to forget," she said.

Assistant prosecuting attorney Jack Koester recommended a 10-year sentence, saying Boyd "viciously attacked" the victim.

After Judge William Syler sentenced Boyd to eight years, a man identifying himself as Boyd's father stood up and asked to speak.

A bailiff told the man he could not speak in the courtroom, and a woman sitting next to him tried to calm him. He remained standing as Boyd was led out of the courtroom, telling him not to worry because it wasn't over, and he would "take care of it."

Syler called a recess so bailiffs could clear the courtroom before the next case.

The man shouted an obscenity on his way out. It was not clear whether he was directing his words at Syler, who already had left the room, or at Koester, who was standing nearby.

Online court records show Boyd pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault in 2007 and misdemeanor hindering prosecution in 2011. The Sikeston Standard-Democrat reported in 2011 that Boyd was charged with calling Sikeston police March 4, 2011 -- the same date listed on the hindering prosecution charge -- and making terroristic threats after a relative was arrested.

Koester said Monday afternoon that he sought a longer sentence because the victim was injured.

"It was the violent nature of it," he said.

Koester said the purse was around the victim's shoulder when Boyd grabbed it, and Boyd told police he had to use more force than he initially anticipated to get it away from her.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

724 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, MO